Libertarian/Republican candidate for the Vermont house in the Orleans-Caledonia 1 district, Ben Todd, had an excellent letter to the editor published on FortBendNow:

Dear Editor,

I am a Libertarian/Republican candidate for state house in Vermont. In Vermont Libertarians and Republicans have allied themselves to work on very important fiscal issues like repealing the statewide property tax etc. The Vermont Republican party has nominated and endorsed 5 Libertarian party candidates.

I find it sad that the Republican party in your area has chosen to let a Liberal Democrat get elected by not endorsing Libertarian Bob Smither for congress in cd-22. Bob Smither would well represent many Republicans in Texas, just as we are here in Vermont. I encourage all Republicans in CD-22 to ignore the destructive actions of the GOP and place their vote for Bob Smither. If not we may see a Democratic speaker of the house.

Check him out at: www.smither4congress.com

Thank You,

Benjamin Todd
Barton Vermont

Feel free to write your own letter, in support of Bob Smither, to FortBendNow via their form located on the right-hand side of the page.

Professor Paul C. Light’s latest study on the “true size” of the federal government puts the number of employees at a staggering 14.6 million people. Without excluding those under the age of 18, roughly 1 in every 20 people in the United States now work for the federal government. According to the Washington Post:

That compares with 12.1 million employees in 2002, said Light, who has tracked the growth of government for years and has data for as far back as 1990. The latest increase is almost entirely due to contractors, whose ranks swelled by 2.5 million since 2002, Light wrote in his 10-page research brief.

Aren’t Republicans supposed to be for smaller government? I find it hard to fathom how the addition of 2.5 million people is in any way compatible with conservative values. I also find it hard to believe that a very large number of conservative voters aren’t waking up to the fact that they have been screwed.

“This time, almost all of the growth can be attributed from the war on terrorism, which boosted Defense spending for both goods and services systems and covered the continued cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq,” he wrote.

It would be interesting to know how many of these defense contractors made campaign contributions, both before and after the war on “terror” started, and for how much.

Being the responsible public servant that he is, House Speaker Dennis Hastert has conveniently setup a Tip line for those of us that have been molested by Congress:

We’ve asked the Ethics Committee to look into this matter and we asked for criminal investigations to be opened by the Justice Department, the FBI and the State of Florida. We have a toll-free number where people can confidently call and we’ve reached out to experts around the country to put a system in place to make sure this never happens again.

The kicker: the number routes to a modem. I am not kidding, I just dialed it. If I wasn’t so accustomed to members of Congress lying to people, this would be a complete shock to me. However it appears to be business as usual.

I guess I will have to “confidently” fax them my grievances.

UPDATE: Michael Hampton pointed out that the correct number is 1-866-348-0481. Let the dialing begin.

Bob Smither faced-off with his oppenents at a candidate forum sponsored by the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce on Thursday. According to FortBendNow:

Libertarian Smither, Republican write-in candidate Sekula-Gibbs and Democratic challenger Lampson spoke in that order. Each was given eight minutes, no rebuttal or audience questions were allowed.

Smither, a Libertarian, and the only candidate beside Lampson whose name will appear on the ballot, compared himself to Republican conservatives of an earlier era, saying he worked as a GOP volunteer for Barry Goldwater’s 1964 presidential campaign.

He criticized Lampson and Sekula-Gibbs, saying both have promised to fund special projects in the district that shouldn’t be paid for with tax money from people in the rest of the country, adding “in your heart, you know it’s wrong.”

Smither said he advocates passage of the so-called Fair Tax Proposal, which would abolish the IRS and replace the income tax with a single-rate federal retail sales tax collected at the point of purchase of new goods and services for personal consumption.

“A write-in candidate has never been elected to the House in Texas. Nick Lampson appeals to those who look to government for solutions,” Smither said, adding that he represents the only true conservative alternative.

Dennis Morrisseau, Independent Congressional candidate in Vermont, is calling for the arrest of Bush and Cheney in the event they illegaly invade Iran:

The antiwar Vietnam vet is a Republican, but he has won approval from the State of Vermont to run on the ballot line “Impeach Bush Now,” rather than Democrat or Republican.

[…]

Morrisseau said any order for an attack upon Iran or to deploy naval forces to its coastal waters is illegal, and called upon officers of the American military to “First, refuse to obey such an order. If the president persists and insists on ordering our forces into combat in or over Iran without a formal Declaration of War, then I call upon you, General Pace, as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and upon such other military officers as clearly see their duty in these circumstances to detain both the President and Vice President, until such time as the Congress shall act.”

Morrisseau is running for Vermont’s at-large seat vacated by socialist Bernie Sanders, who has held the seat since 1991 as an Independent. Although Morrisseau helped create the socialist Liberty Union Party, he claims to have been a Republican until recently in an interview with Daryl Bradford Smith. He first entered this race as a Republican, but dropped out of the primary to run as an Independent.

Liberty Union candidate Jane Newton, Independent candidate Keith Stern and two representatives from the mega-party are also in the race.

Just when you thought the Republican Party reached it’s max in the moral bankruptcy department, Larry Shirley steals the show:

“What we’ve got is a failure in society, whether it’s in Mount Pleasant with yuppie parents or whether it’s on the East Side with poor crackhead parents,” Shirley said Friday. “We pick up stray animals and spay them. These mothers need to be spayed if they can’t take care of theirs. … Once they have a child and it’s running the streets, to let them continue to have children is totally unacceptable.” Deadbeat dads might ought to be sterilized as well, he said.

I wonder if his parents should have been spayed and neutered? Here’s his contact information.

You won’t see him in the debates, but he is beginning to get some buzz in the media. Texas Gubernatorial candidate James Werner‘s coverage includes an article in the Dallas Morning News back in July (I know, old stuff), and more recently, in the Waxahachie Daily Light, an article where the title seemingly changed from “Don’t Count James Werner Out” to “Werner touts“. Wes Benedict noted in the comments that Werner “is interviewed by radio, television, or newspapers usually at least once per day.” One of those interviews was conducted by the Houston Chronicle via podcast.

Post-podcast NEWSFLASH: Bob Smither‘s last name is “Smither”, not “Smithers”! For the love of liberty, you would think our Gubernatorial candidate could at least get it right.

In other news, Werner has a new website called “Name the Guv“. He figures if all the other candidates have nicknames, there is no reason he shouldn’t have one as well. The site allows you to suggest a nickname and vote for your favorites.

Grandma, Kinky and two representatives from the mega-party are also in the race.

Independent candidate for Congress, John Murphy (PA-16), who has been endorsed by several third parties including two county-level Libertarian Parties, found himself arrested after protesting a local ballot-Nazi’s attempt to remove a Green candidate on a rather trivial technicality. According to Murphy’s article published by CounterPunch:

This 24-year-old unibrowed gargoyle however was long past considering such foolish, romantic notions as “freedom”, “justice” and “democratic values”. When he instructed me to remove six signatures from Mr. Romanelli’s petition as invalid simply because the six people had all mistakenly printed their name in the first column and signed their name in the second column instead of the other way around, I slammed my hand on the table and shouted “shit, if you’re going to remove those signatures, you maggot”.

Now of course I realize that there have been times in the past when I have been more complementary to Democrats but I certainly did not realize that calling a Democrat a “maggot” was in any way similar to shouting “fire” in a crowded movie theater. At best I thought someone might call me impolite but instead I was surrounded by menacing members of the Democratic Party, grabbed by a court officer in Gestapo like fashion and forcibly removed from the room. When I refused to “sit down and shut up” as instructed by the court officer, the police were summoned. I was ultimately charged with “disorderly conduct”, at the insistence of the attorney for the Democratic Party, and was led away by the police. It is against the law, you see, to call a Democrat a maggot even if he is consuming the still living tissue of our body politic.

The world could use a few more John Murphys. He goes on to describe various tactics the mega party is using to marginalize his campaign as well. It is an interesting read.

(Friendswood, Texas) ““ Bob Smither, the Libertarian candidate for Congressional District 22, announced the launching of a new, revamped campaign website today at:

http://www.Smither4congress.us

The new site will facilitate interaction with supporters from across the nation and provide details of the latest happenings in CD-22. The new website was facilitated by an influx of donations and support from around the country over the last three weeks. Bob Smither’s campaign drew nationwide attention after a series of federal court rulings left the Republican Party without a candidate for this traditionally conservative district. Smither, the Libertarian nominee, will be the only candidate on the ballot facing liberal Democrat Nick Lampson.

Bob Smither made the following remarks about the website launch:

“Our campaign for CD-22 has gained the attention of political observers and supporters from all over the country. Outside of the Houston area, the internet is the only direct window that many people have into the day-to-day operations of my candidacy for the U.S. Congress.

The new website will serve as an information resource for our supporters from around the country. Activists, bloggers, and concerned citizens who share in the principles of individual liberty will have a place online to communicate our message of limited government to the voters.”

Visit the Bob Smither campaign online at:

http://www.Smither4congress.us

[NOTE: The preceding is a press release, reproduced in it’s entirety, from the Smither Campaign]

Aaron Russo’s film, America: Freedom to Fascism, will be opening in Chicago, Denver, Portland, Beverly Hills, Houston, Dallas, Tempe, Tucson, and Salt Lake City beginning in September and October. Openings in Nashville and other cities are said to be in the works as well. If you haven’t seen the film yet, be sure to check out the schedule for cities and dates. There is also a list on Upcoming.org.

Here’s an excerpt of a recent review by Conscious Choice Magazine:

Here’s all you need to take away from this. Despite how “affluent” we believe we are as a culture, in reality the dollar is only worth $.04. What keeps its value propped up is its near-exclusive relationship with oil transactions and other nation’s treasury reserves (the dollar having replaced gold as the backing) and some 10,000 nuclear weapons. If you looked deeply at the reasons for our most recent military campaigns, and the economic and diplomatic warfare we are conducting on nations like Iran, Venezuela, and North Korea, you’d fast come to understand that these nations, like Iraq before it in 2000, decided to stop using the dollar as their reserve currency, or to buy oil. If our dollar ceases to hold value”¦you do the math.

All of this is to say that the extended wardrobe of Fascism contains business suits as well as jackboots and swastikas.

And another by Michael Rivero:

This is a film that will probably give nightmares to those who have not been following the nation’s devolution here on the internet for the last several years. The film is a convincer, and Russo has carefully laid out the path for his audience, who will be reluctant to see what Russo sees, to follow.

This is a movie you MUST see. This is a movie the government MUST keep you from seeing. Call your local theaters and ask when it will be showing. When enough people call, the film will be booked, because after all, in America, money rules all.

Not only does Bush think the Constitution is “just a goddamned piece of paper“, but Montrose Daily Press reporter James Shea evidently does too. After reading his article covering a recent debate between 3rd Congressional District candidates in Colorado, I sent him the following inquiry:

Your article mentions that Bert Sargent attended this debate, but does not mention anything the man said. Why is this? Some of us would like to know what ALL the candidates had to say.

His response:

Mr. Nelson:

Mr. Sargent mostly talked from a strict Constitutional perspective but, unfortunately, he did not have much to say about public policy. I did not think a debate on the Constitution was relevant to the article but thanks for the feedback.

James Shea

The Constitution is not “relevant” in a public policy debate between candidates for U.S. Congress?

Fortunately, The Rocky Mountain Newscovered the debate a little more thoroughly:

But the scene-stealer turned out to be Bert Sargent, the Libertarian running in the 3rd Congressional District, who got huge laughs and applause for his answers.

He blasted the war on drugs and the war in Iraq and the huge federal deficit.

Sargent also criticized new airport security measures and said he doesn’t know what he’s going to do when he gets elected and has fly to Washington because he won’t put up with what he called “body cavity searches.”

… and the Axis of Evil is a spinner in the middle of the board. You can fight terrorism, you can fund terrorism, you can even be the terrorists. The only thing that matters is global domination – err, liberation.

I particularly like the oil factor:

Everyone starts with the best intentions. Then things start to get cramped. Then you notice your neighbour has more oil than you. Before long, war is waged, nukes are dropped, revolutions are fought and terrorists are doing your dirty work, before turning on you…

Evidently some folks in the UK developed this game over a period of two years after observing how lies and hypocrisy, among other things, were being used to justify the ‘War on Terror’ and the invasion of Iraq – as if these deceitful ploys were the rules of some sort of twisted game. I commend them on a job well done.

Note: this article contains dead links, the url is still in the hover/alt text. Keep the web working, curate content well!

If you are a male in or around a Forth Worth High School, do not, I repeat, DO NOT gather in a group. Such behaviour is considered threatening to your local police and you risk being shot:

Police say a school monitor and a Fort Worth police officer who is assigned to the school saw a group of males near the rear of the campus, which is at 6100 McCart.

According to police, when the people in the group saw the officer approaching, they became irate. When the officer tried to detain one of the suspects, the rest of the group jumped the officer and the monitor.

[…]

During the struggle, a shot was fired and hit a 16-year-old boy. Police say it’s not clear whether the shot came from the officer’s gun or from another gun.

Well that’s strange, because a completely different news source has this to say:

Texas Police say an officer shot and wounded a 16-year-old boy at high school today in Fort Worth.

The boy was taken to an area hospital after the shooting at South Hills High School. A police spokesman declined to answer additional questions.

Looks to me like somebody forgot to insert the official police propaganda into their “story”. I am curious as to why they didn’t bother to get the other side’s version.

KHOU-TV aired an interview with Bob Smither today. The interview touches not only on his politics, but also on a personal tragedy. As some of you may know, Smither’s daughter, Laura Kate, was abducted and killed in 1997 just before her 13th birthday. In response, Smither and his family founded the Laura Recovery Center, a non-profit organization for missing children.

Economist, Professor, Public Policy Analyst and Author are just a few the titles topping Dr. Eric Schansberg’s resume. Attempting to add US Congressman to that list, Dr. Schansberg is running an impressive campaign in Indiana’s 9th District:

Schansberg has tried a grassroots approach to campaigning, attending all 20 county fairs in the 9th District and just talking to people.

[…]

“In the downstate towns we’ve gotten terrific media coverage,” Schansberg said. “I was on vacation in Columbus and about half the people there were at least aware of me.”

A major boon for his campaign came with his inclusion in the first debate last Thursday at WTIU on IU’s Bloomington campus.

In a poll on the Louisville Courier-Journal’s Web site, 31.8 percent of respondents said they thought Schansberg won the debate.

It is refreshing to see Economists such as Dr. Bill Peirce and Dr. Eric Schansberg running for office as Libertarians. I have to wonder how many Economists run under the mega-party banner.

A member of Tony Blair’s Cabinet said the British prime minister was likely to step down next year, and a newspaper trumpeted a report that advisers had drafted a detailed plan for his final days in office.

[…]

The Daily Mirror said the advisers suggested that Blair’s farewell tour should include visits to a number of cities and a round of media appearances.

The newspaper quoted the memo as saying: “As TB enters his final phase he needs to be focusing way beyond the finishing line, not looking at it.

“He needs to go with the crowds wanting more. He should be the star who won’t even play that last encore. In moving towards the end he must focus on the future.”

The amount of effort being put into this staged event is interesting. If only half as much time was spent planning an exit strategy for the Iraq War, they might not be in this predicament in the first place.

With virtually no money and no media, Dawn Winkler-Kinateder, the Libertarian Candidate for Governor of Colorado received 3% in a recent poll. This may not sound like much, but neither the independent candidate Paul Fiorino nor Constitution Party candidate Clyde Harkin made it into the poll at all. Republican Bob Beauprez (who supports animal ID) and Democrat Bill Ritter (who flip flops on the pro-choice issue) are running a tight race. Winkler’s candidacy possibly stands to decide who wins.

Winkler says “I don’t know who is worse. Both are big government, Big Brother, and both are in essence, pro-life, which really means anti-choice.” Winkler criticizes Ritter’s big government approach to healthcare and his apparent indecision about who should and should not be allowed to legally have a safe abortion. Winkler also criticizes Beauprez’s support of national animal ID.

On August 11th, they squared off at a televised debate on Denver’s channel
12 KBDI, Colorado Decides, along with Clyde Harkin. This debate was sponsored by the Rocky Mountain News. Post debate coverage by the Rocky Mountain News failed to mention Winker or Harkin despite Winkler stating she was 100% pro choice. One of the post debate articles on August 12th was specifically about abortion.

For more information about Winkler’s campaign or to contribute, visit www.dawnforgovernor.org

All content distributed under fair use with proper attribution and protected by freedom of speech. We take all dmca/copyright claims seriously and disclose all communications in accordance with those rights. Comments owned by the poster, we cannot be held liable. Hammer of Truth is a registered trademark of liberty sucker, ʟʟᴄ2002-2006, 2010-2015